I Ship to US only and my winning bidder is in Italy

I specify ships to US and the winning bidder is in Italy. The buyer is requesting a total and I don't know what to do. I live in the middle of no where and at this time of year, snow ice etc., traveling to the Post office to purchase economical shipping would really be an inconvenience to me. This is why I am not offering International shipping right now, I only sell what I can fit in my mailbox and print online shipping for! If I tell the buyer No I am setting myself up for Neg feedback and is this situation if would be the buyer who made the mistake. I just read a helpful post here which stepped me through changing my account to not allowing international buyers. However I don't know what to do about this.... Any ideas?? Thanks so much! Michelle

Re: I Ship to US only and my winning bidder is in Italy

Email the buyer and tell them that sorry but you need to cancel the deal because you cannot take foreign paypal at this moment. Tell them that as per Ebay rules you cant take any other payment. Explain to them that is why you wrote U.S>shipping only. Ask them to please agree to cancel the transaction so that you can get your fees back.

There is a good chance that they will not agree to it. If that is the case, then call ebay and ask them for a one time courtesy refund of the fvfs of this deal.

I would restart this auction ONLY after the first deal is cancelled. You don't know if perhaps the buyer has a relative in the USA that can pay.

Re: I Ship to US only and my winning bidder is in Italy

Just a thought but are you signed up for the global shipping thingy? I never ship outside the USA either. I had a sale recently from France and was quite shocked that it got through. I discovered that I was signed up for global shipping and in them signing me up they opened me up to sell in every country you can think of. I sorted that out very quickly by changing my options, but it might be something you want to take a look at. Very sneaky I thought.

Re: I Ship to US only and my winning bidder is in Italy

I don't see any listing showing shipping to Italy. They need to use a US ship to address to pay otherwise they should be blocked from paying. I see no GSP either.

They must have input a US addy in to their acct to be able to enter a bid if I am looking at the right listing for the little dolly.

The "send invoice" does that show an address for shipping? US or not?

You can file the UID if they do not pay using a US ship to address, after 2 days.

You can go to your PP account profile and under selling tools>getting paid> manage risk> block NON US PP payments and they can't pay, then you would file the UID to get your fees back after it closes without payment.

The other block you will see is for "currency you do not hold" and that one should be on all the time, since that will save you a small percentage if you ever do ship international.

You can print postage online for international mail. Just so you know for future reference.

Re: I Ship to US only and my winning bidder is in Italy

If you failed to block Italy (or Europe in general), then a bidder in Italy can bid. It is also possible that the buyer has a U.S. mailing address (relative, friend, mail forwarding company, etc.). You have the option of blocking non-U.S. Paypal accounts regardless of the ship-to address.

If you are using GSP (or if eBay made it your default), then the buyer will automatically get an invoice stating the total amount due, including Customs fees. You will get the item price and domestic shipping, if any. The package will go to Erlander, KY, and eBay/Pitney Bowes will handle it from there. However, if you have blocked non-U.S. Paypal payments, the buyer won't be able to pay. Some eBay categories do not allow the GSP.

As for finding a mailing rate, you do not have to go to a PO. You can look it up right on your own computer at usps.com via the international rate calculator. However, be aware that Italy has a long list of prohibited items; that information is also available via a link once you have accessed the calculator.

Re: I Ship to US only and my winning bidder is in Italy

Just go to USPS online and grab a quick shipping quote to Italy. When he pays you...print your postage and customs straight from ebay labels. It's a piece of cake. Don't be intimidated...it's not as bad as you may think. Only problem with international shipping can be the time it takes to arrive, but most of my international customers already expect that. Good Luck! ;-)

Re: I Ship to US only and my winning bidder is in Italy

It does not and it's about time that the USPS updated their restrictions list to something more 2013 rather than 1930.

Italy is an EU country, the EU has largely free trade with the USA and no single EU member state can unilaterally impose unreasonable restrictions on goods from the USA. The fact these restrictions that the USPS claim are imposed by Italy includes typewritter ribbons, to protect Olivetti and toys "not made wholly of wood" to protect the new plastic toy industry should give people some idea of just how old these restrictions are.

They simply do not exist and as long as you can get past some officious USPS clerk with an encyclopedic knowledge of the restriction list who takes great pleasure in excercising a little power, there is no problem on the Italian side with a plastic toy.

The OP is has a grossly exaggerated idea of the difficulties of posting out of the country. Also, the Italian post is very much a Dog given a bad name. It may still not be the fastest or the best, but it would seem to me to have improved greatly over the last few years.

Re: I Ship to US only and my winning bidder is in Italy

This just happened to me in the last day or so with a buyer from China. I do not ship internationally. Here is how it was handled.

I contacted them to let them know that I do not ship internationally. I told them that I was going to send a cancellation request, and ask that they accept it; otherwise they would automatically get an unpaid item strike from eBay in a couple of days. I asked that they let me know if they would agree to the cancellation.

They did. I sent the cancellation. They accepted. Done.

---------------------CAUTION: Snarkilepsy poster on board.

Nov. 2015 v. 2016: Number of Sales UP 46%; Net Sales DOWN 0.75%, 3X MORE Listings.